The rain at times was so heavy that NASA's 36-story shuttle launchpads could not be seen from the KSC Launch Control Center three tofour miles away, Diller said.

A tornado touched down briefly near the southern entrance to thespace center on North Merritt Island about 10 a.m., and a funnelcloud was spotted near Haulover Canal an hour later but did not touchdown.

The storm produced hurricane-force winds when a sustained wind of 76mph was measured at Kennedy Space Center on a 500-foot-tall weathertower near the Vehicle Assembly Building at 11:25 a.m.

A gust of 94 mph was measured near a launch pad at 11:30 a.m.,officials said.

NASA emergency management officials planned to send a team out toassess damage early this afternoon. Preliminary reports indicate thatno major damage was done, Diller said.

"We might have lost a couple of panels on the Vehicle AssemblyBuilding, but overall, we don't see any obvious damage," Dillersaid. "It's turning out to be just about what we expected."